James Luisi (November 11, 1928 - June 7, 2002) was an American television actor. In a career spanning nearly forty years, Luisi appeared in various TV programs such as Naked City, Adam-12, Matt Houston, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Silk Stalkings, and on Broadway in the original 1966 production of Sweet Charity.
However, Luisi is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Doug Chapman during Seasons 3 through 5 of the series The Rockford Files. Luisi's character Chapman detests the main character of the series, private investigator Jim Rockford (played by James Garner), and always tries to make things difficult for Rockford while the latter investigates his cases.
Before becoming an actor, Luisi was an NBA player, a member of the Baltimore Bullets from 1953 to 1954.
Luisi died of cancer in 2002.
A native New Yorker, Luisi attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights on a basketball scholarship. He served in the Army during the Korean War. He then played two seasons with the Baltimore Bullets in the Basketball Association of America. His acting career began on the stage with early parts coming in the Broadway musicals "Sweet Charity" and "Zorba". His early movies were minor, though his "beefcake" appeal was evident in 1973's I Escaped from Devil's Island (1973) in which he rarely wore a shirt. Most of his later work was on TV. In 1976 he shared a "best actor" daytime Emmy for playing George Washington in a daytime drama special titled "First Ladies Diaries: Martha Washington." Also in 1976 he began four seasons of work as Lt. Chapman in "Rockford Files, The" (1974). In 1983 he played the cop in charge of some street-gang-members-turned-undercover-agents in the series "Renegades" (1983). The series was not a success but it provided a boost for Patrick Swayze who played one of the gang members. Along with guest spots on numerous TV shows, Luisi also appeared in the soap operas "Days of Our Lives" (1965) and "Another World" (1964). In the 1990s he returned to acting in and directing stage work in the Los Angeles area. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, the former Georgia Phillips.
